Pizza Port Solana Beach

AtLagerHeads

Ohio

4.03/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4

A smaller Pizza Port than Carlsbad or San Clemente yet the format is the same. Order the pizza, they'll call you when its ready. All of the great tap beers are here and the seating is strictly picnic tables as elsewhere. There are several tables out front on the sidewalk, parking can be a little challenging, but you can catch the train across the street. Surfboards line the ceiling and that's appropriate as the surf is just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

Didn't try the pizza here, but I'm sure it's as good as the other outlets. Must try spot when you're in San Diego and southern Orange counties.

11-03-2003 05:07:28 | More by AtLagerHeads

Fabric8r

Montana

4.13/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4

Read about this place on this site, so put it on my list to visit while on vacation in the San Diego area. We stopped in here at the end of our day at the beach at La Jolla. Really glad we did. We were hungy, and their pizza was perfect. Thirsty, and their beer was perfect. Very noisy though, crammed with people, so we had to work to enjoy the place.

The surfing theme was fun, and I kept wishing these folks would open up an outfit like this in our ski town. (would have to use a ski theme of course) The beer selection and quality was just as I had hoped, although the kid serving the beer only knew what the names were, nothing else, so we had to use our best guess on selecting a beer brewed on site. Our choices were good ones as we really enjoyed the beer.

09-11-2003 18:43:21 | More by Fabric8r

Rumrunner

California

4.47/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $

I am a big fan of Pizza Port.

The Solana Beach Pizza Port is located across the street from the train station. Hint no driving necessary for certain trips during the year.

This is the smallest of the three Pizza Ports. The atmosphere is very southern California surfer. It is rustic with a little beatnick thrown in for good measure. Surf boards hang from the walls and the t.v.'s show surfer videos if there is not an important sports event on. There is no bar to sit and drink at. Wooden picnic style benches and tables inside and outside.

The food is very tasty and unique. How can pizza be unique you ask? Try it with the beer battered crust. The beer buddies are very tasty as well and go extremely well with beer. The pizza menu is very extensive and they also have a selection of salads and other items. The owners have done a comendable job of making their food original compared to other businesses that cook pizza and serve family style bar food.

The beers. What more can be said? The reviews speak for themselves. The Solana Beach Pizza Port has its own brewer. Carlsbad and San Clemente share the same brewer. Therefore each establishment has different beers even for the same styles. Here if you love IPA's try the Swamis. The pale ale is good and my girlfriend really enjoyed their brown. Some of the offerings rotate or are seasonal. Cowabunga Cream Stout is one of them. You also might luck out and find your favorite on cask. Swamis was on cask last week when I visited. Lucky me. Unfortunately from time to time even the regular beers are not available. Never fear though. They have plenty of brews from other craft brewers. Stone, Alesmith and many others. They also usually have a barley wine and a selection of wines.

The service is always good. The customers order food at one counter and drinks at another. They page your name when the food is ready. Easy enough.

If you are in the area, love beer and want some good food give this place a try. A great spot to have a few with friends or bring the family. It is a very mellow friendly establishment.

08-20-2003 06:18:17 | More by Rumrunner

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.7/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5

As I neared the brewpub that Monday, beautiful wafts of fresh brewing aroma hit me smack in the face. And this was from about a block away. As I entered the pub, I realized that a batch had just been brewed. There was a big dumpster-type garbage container in the pub filled with spent grains that were still steaming. What a sight to behold.

The pub itself was a laid back "surfer" style place. Tables outside. Big picnic tables inside. A wall of video games. But no bar in the traditional sense to speak of. And no waitresses either. You had to go to the counter to order pizza and to order your beer. (A minor inconvenience for the quality "grub and grog" as they advertise.) The centerpiece of the pub was the sunken brewing area open for all to observe. There was a couple brew tanks and I think 3 fermenters there. It was sunk about 4-6 feet and there was a bit of a bar around that area. And the walls surrounding the brewing area were covered with some nice artwork depicting some of their brews. (All of their serving tanks were in an area below the video games.)

On to the beer. I am no belgian beer expert, but I had two belgian beers there that were just superb. ( I would love to hear what a true belgian beer connoisseur thinks of the belgian beer that Tomme brews. )

Here are the beers I tried and a rough rating (1-100):

1Smokey the Rye - A traditional German Style weizenbock made with a bavarian yeast, wheat malt, rye malt and smoked bamberg malt. 7.5% a/v. 97POINTS

2. SPF 8 Saison (Belgian style Farm ale brewed with rosemary) - 96 POINTS

3. Mother of All Ales (Belgian style quadruppel) 94 POINTS

4. Pale Ale (cask) - just a sample - 92 POINTS

5. IPA - 89 POINTS

6. Pale Ale (not cask) - 89 POINTS

7. Sharkbite Red - 88 POINTS

8. Seaside Stout - 85 POINTS

9. Ale Nino (Double Brown Ale using Belgian malt and English hops) - only a sample - 85 POINTS

10. Restoration Ale (Special Bitter) - only a sample - 85 POINTS

(They also had two lighter beers that I didn't even try.)

I've never been at a brewpub that has been so consistently excellent in every brew they delivered with excellent pizza as well.

07-01-2003 21:32:03 | More by Bighuge

ottobon100

Virginia

4.03/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4

If you like IPAs this is the place. Swami's IPA was excellent! I was in San Diego visiting last week (April 6-12, '03) and went here twice. I love IPAs and it is hard to find one better. As a matter of fact I can't think of one. Hoppy is the word for this one. It was so good I'm sorry to say I didn't try others. Besides I had to drive back to downtown San Diego! Loved their artichoke pizza too. I was here several years ago and it hasn't changed a bit. This is a locals place with picnic benches to eat on inside and out but I bumped into a few folks from out of the state. Normally surfing movies showing.

04-13-2003 09:15:54 | More by ottobon100

mzwolinski

California

4.18/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

This place has *character*. My fiancee and I arrived on a Tuesday night, to find the wooden bench-style tables crowded with beer-lovers, surfer videos playing on the big-screen TVs, and the Pixies playing on the jukebox. Surprisingly crowded for a weekday-night, but it had a very nice, laid-back atmosphere.

The pizza was quite good -- the crust was the highlight, a perfect blend of doughiness and crispines.

Beer selection was terrific. They had a few selections from Stone, a large number of their own beers -- II sampled a very decent Belgian farmhouse ale. They even had something from Dogfish Head, which both surprised and impressed me.

The bartender at the time didn't know much about the beer selcetion. Couldn't tell me what *kind* of Belgian beer I was ordering, or what style of beer Dogfish Head's selection was. But if you know what you're looking for, you can find some real treasures here! Calendar showed lots of special events at this place; I'll likely be returning often.

03-24-2003 12:46:44 | More by mzwolinski